A New Generation's Burden
by arinhel.melleide
Summary: This is a story about the new generation of heroes stepping up to their duty to defend...yeah that sucks...So this a story of adventure, vengeance, a little romance, and darkness and light, cause really that's what Kingdom Hearts is all about, right?
1. A Dream and a Betrayal

A/N: So this is my first official fanfiction...I know most readers probably could care less, but I'm saying it anyway. This isn't the first story I've written, though it is probably one of the better ones. Anyway this story takes place at least 25 years after the current event of Kingdom Hearts, and, this is probably where I will lose most of my readers if I get any, it's about Sora, Kairi and Riku's kids.

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><p>Delini's soft indigo eyes peeked out at her ceiling. She squeezed them shut; the bright morning sunlight streaming in from the bedroom window was far too bright. The memory of the dream still lingered in Delini's sleepy mind. She couldn't bear to let it slip away just yet, it had been too intriguing. But the more aware she became of the world around her, the more the dream slipped away until she no longer remembered it.<p>

The day began as it usually did in summer, on the island a half mile or so offshore. Sebastian, Delini, and Laine had been goofing off in the ocean for quite some time, swimming around, splashing and laughing in the surf. Delini decided that she was done and made a hasty retreat to the shore to find a nice place to lie down in the sun to dry off and maybe nap a little.

As Delini started to get drowsy she wondered if she would have the dream again. The haziness of sleep was overtaking her and she succumbed to it.

00oo00oo00

_Delini was walking along the shore of the mainland with her friends and heading toward the island. Her friends suddenly dissolved, startling Delini and she looked around for an explanation but she kept on walking straight towards the island. Instead of walking into the water as she reached the surf, Delini walked onto it and continued her way to the island. Delini doesn't remember the long walk to island only that she was there, walking around it, staying on the water, never setting foot on dry land._

_On the shore she could see things that looked like swords but were all different shapes and somehow resembled keys and swords at the same time, countless of them. All appeared to be broken or disused. Laine was standing in the center of the chaos holding what appeared to be a sword in the shape of a bat wing. She turned to face Delini, raised her arm in a welcoming gesture. Delini started towards the shore, but the water she was standing on started to feel less solid under her feet._

_She looked up at Laine and saw behind her that the island was dissolving. Delini started to run but the slowly de-solidifying water was hampering her progress and Laine disappeared just as she was about to reach the shore with her hand outstretched to grab her. Just before Laine vanished Delini thought she saw the shadow of a person behind her, but then they were gone._

_She fell backwards and through the surface of the ocean, her eyes slipping closed. As she sank deeper into the water, somehow not feeling quite like water anymore as she kept sinking, Delini leveled out floating down on her back. Then she turned upright opening her eyes as she landed on her feet. It was dark, as one would expect from the bottom of an ocean but she did not feel like she was underwater anymore. She looked around starting to feel nervous and scared._

_Delini took a step and suddenly a flock of what appeared to be doves flew away revealing a stained glass floor, lit from underneath, depicting Delini's mother and the faces of her father, 'uncle,' and her father's three friends, who sometimes came to visit, surrounding her. Delini then looked behind her and saw an ornate set of double doors at the edge of the stained glass surface._

_She walked towards it wondering at the beauty of the stained glass portrait of her mother, or at least what she assumed what her mother must have looked like when she was younger. Once Delini reached the door, she noticed that it was not physically there, just an image._

_As soon as Delini tried to touch it, a voice rang through her head telling her that she was not yet ready to open that path. She turned around and three pedestals appeared each one holding a sword, a shield or a rod. The voice sounded again, commanding her to choose one of the three before her._

_**'The sword; the path of the warrior. The shield; the path of the defender. The rod; the path of the mystic.'** Delini thought for a moment and picked up the sword. **'The power of the warrior, invincible courage, a sword of terrible destruction; is this the power you seek?'**Delini nodded, and the sword disappeared from her hand, along with its pedestal._

_The voice then asked her to choose one of the remaining two to paths to give up in exchange. This prompted Delini to look deeper into herself for her decision. She ended up choosing the rod; Delini wanted to be strong and be able to defend those that she cared for. Thinking she was ready, Delini turned to face the door and moved towards it._

_The voice rang out again, **'Now is still not the time for the door to be opened.'**The ground began to rumble beneath Delini's feet, the glass started cracking. She braced herself, closed her eyes, and felt the stain glass floor shatter; she fell into darkness._

_She landed, rather un-gracefully, on her behind. Grumbling about rude incorporeal voices not warning her about the fall, Delini slowly got to her feet, dusting herself off and rubbing her sore backside. When Delini finally looked around her, the view took her breath away._

_There were tall, tall….Well the best word to describe them would be cathedrals that were made almost entirely of stained glass windows. They were the cathedrals of the heart. After seeing no pathways ahead, Delini looked down to see what she was standing on. This platform's main image was that of a boy and girl facing each other and holding hands with their eyes closed. They were both blonde; the girl's hair was long and curled over her shoulder; the boy's was short and spikier than even her father's, which is saying something._

_They looked like the boy and girl in a picture she once found in her parent's room. She hadn't recognized them as any of her parents' friends when they were younger. When she had asked her father who they were he simply said that they had helped her mother and himself find each other after getting separated for a long time, and that they weren't around anymore. It was not until a couple of years later that Delini realized that there was such a thing as death, and so she believed that when her father said they were no longer around he meant they were dead._

_Delini turned her gaze back up to the colossal, stained glass towers, noticing that there was no way to get from where she was to any of the others. As she stood staring, there was a sudden flash of light, accompanied by a familiar sound. Delini felt something in her hand, and she grasped it tightly. She lifted her arm. When Delini saw what was in her hand, she almost dropped it._

_It was a keyblade. She'd seen her father pull one out a few times when he was really mad at someone or when he thought there was a threat to his family. His was different than the one Delini had, but she knew they were the same thing, just a different, charm….How did she know that? Her father's had looked very intricate and didn't resemble a key so much as an ornamental sword, but it felt incredibly powerful. Delini's keyblade was very basic and looked more like a key than a blade._

_**'You now have the power to fight,'** intoned the mysterious voice. Delini tried a few practice swings with the keyblade.** '****Good, now you must use this power to protect yourself and those you love.****' **There was a strange sound and Delini quickly turned around. Shadowy shapes started appearing out of the floor. Delini started backing up, but she reached the edge and almost slipped off. **'****You will have to fight at times. Keep strong, and never give up hope.****'**_

_Delini gained a determined look, gripped the keyblade and jumped at the multitude of Shadows, swinging left and right with the blade. Delini didn't know how she knew how to fight, but she was glad she did. It took her ten minutes, but she beat the Shadows. Delini was panting and looking around and she noticed there was a path of small rectangular, stained-glass platforms curving upwards to the next tower. The girl felt compelled to keep moving forward._

_She made it half-way up the path when more shadows appeared; Delini fought her way to the next platform, where a new wave of Shadows was waiting for her. She groaned wanting to have a rest, but unable because the Shadows were coming closer. Delini tightened her grip on the keyblade with both hands and ran at the Shadows._

_As Delini defeated each Shadow a shaft of light in the center of the platform grew stronger and brighter. Once all the Shadows were defeated Delini was compelled to walk towards the shaft of light. She didn't move towards it yet, but bent over leaning on her knees, catching her breath._

_She noticed the image on this platform was of her father when he was much younger, standing defiantly holding the keyblade that Delini herself was wielding, surrounded by images of friends and family, including that boy and girl from the photo. She couldn't see her mother's face in any of the surrounding images but as she looked closer she could see her mother standing behind her father._

_He was protecting her._

_Delini straightened and gave into the impulse to walk towards the light; her shadow grew longer and darker the closer she went. **'****The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.****' **Intoned the voice; her shadow rose and solidified. It gave out a roar, sounding with two voices, one sounded like Delini but the other sounded like a monster. Delini froze in fear at the sound, as the shadow of herself came closer._

_**'****You need not fear the darkness! Have courage and fight it! Do not forget…****' **the voice trailed off but Delini knew what it meant. She shook herself and brought her keyblade up, gripping it with both hands._

_The shadow mimicked her stance; they ran at each other. The shadow fought in the same style as Delini, their moves perfect mirrors of each other, blades clashing at every strike. Delini began to get frustrated. They met in the center of the platform blades crossing, glaring at each other. Delini pushed against the shadow and leapt back, the shadow reacted simultaneously with the same action._

_They glared at each other in a standoff._

_Delini started to charge forward again, but the shadow her didn't move. Her charge was halted; her feet were stuck in some black substance. It clung to her legs and started dragging Delini down. She screamed, struggling to get free. A sharp laugh pierced the air, and Delini briefly halted her struggles to look up. Her shadow self was laughing and smiling at her._

_**'****Don't forget, you hold the mightiest weapon! You will be the one to stop the war!****' **The black stuff was at her neck, and pulling harder and faster. The last thing Delini saw was the shadow laughing at her. **'****Don't forget…****'**_

00oo00oo00

Delini shot up, breathing hard. She had never gotten that far into the dream before. It had always stopped when she got to the light; the shadow girl had never appeared before. She didn't know if she had been screaming, but judging from the fact that Laine and Sebastian were still playing in the water she probably hadn't.

"That was freaky," Delini whispered to herself. She got up, trying to get her mind off the dream, and walked over to where Laine and Sebastian were still playing in the water.

"Sebastian, Laine, come on you guys! We need to get working!" she shouted over their laughter. They paused briefly.

"Hey, look who's talking, sleeping beauty? You were asleep for a half hour at least." Laine said quickly and then shrieked as Sebastian took advantage of the opening to splash her. "Now you're gonna get it!" she kicked at the water, directing a big splash at Sebastian.

"Yeah, well I'm awake now, and it's almost noon. I want to have something done before lunch. Don't you guys want this thing finished?" They stopped splashing and looked at her, nodding their heads in agreement.

"Alright, why don' you get started, while we dry off and change?" Sebastian suggested quickly, knowing if he didn't Delini and Laine would start battling it out for who would be in charge.

"Sure," Delini nodded and headed off to another part of the island. "Don't take too long," she shouted, turning to walk backwards as she did so.

"Yes ma'am, Captain Bossy-pants, ma'am," Laine shot back with a sarcastic salute. Delini stopped walking backwards. Laine and Delini stared at each other for a few seconds, Sebastian looking nervously between the two of them. Then they both burst out laughing.

"That's right Private Smart-ass, I'm Captain," Delini replied smugly, and, still laughing, turned back around and continued on her way.

00oo00oo00

Delini hit the button that opened the door to the garage. She, Sebastian, and Laine had made a few changes to the island since their parents had last played there, but not too many or too noticeable because they did come back a couple times a year for sentimental reasons. The garage had been the most recent and largest change and built with the consent of parents and help of two small, furry mechanic friends.

As Delini walked into the garage, she was struck with a certain awe, as she always was whenever she saw their little project. The Gummi ship was sitting in the middle of the large, hollowed out cave, converted to a garage, looking for all the world like such a mish-mosh of parts, yet at the same time a beautiful piece of machinery capable of flying them away from their boring lives.

At the time, it hadn't been used much and had fallen into disrepair. Laine, Sebastian, and Delini had been working on it for some months and it was almost ready to fly, they were just doing the last fine tuning and adjustments.

"Hey! Did you bring the food?" a voice called from under the Gummi. A filthy, red-haired head popped out from underneath the ship, the only identifiable feature of Sebastian. He pulled his goggles off of his face making two, clean circles around his eyes and a line across his nose.

"Yeah," she replied as Sebastian started to wiggle out from under the ship. "Here's your Mac'n'Cheese," she said throwing the container at Sebastian, making him scramble to get out. He managed to get his arms out far enough to catch his dinner before it hit the floor.

"Hah, nice try, Delini, but I will catch it every time," he said with a smug smile creating a stark contrast between the black grease and his white teeth.

"Yeah, yeah, Boy Wonder. Hey Laine," Delini turned back to the ship and shouted, cupping one hand at her mouth, the other holding two sandwich bags, "I've got your sandwich." There was the sound of a wrench falling on someone's foot, accompanied by a hissed expletive.

"Give me a sec," she shouted back, her voice emanating from the same place as the thud of the wrench. Laine came hopping into sight, holding her left foot. "You did remember to get the extra mayo on mine, right?" She asked, wincing as she put her foot down. Laine was not quite as dirty as Sebastian, being that her face was mostly clean, but her arms were covered to the elbow in grease.

"Yes, yes I did, I even asked for extra little packets of mayo in case it wasn't enough for you," Delini replied in a tone that belied annoyance. Once she saw that both of Laine's hands were free, she tossed the correct sandwich bag, containing extra mayo. "So what is there left to do on this baby?" Delini asked, moving to sit on the table with the cleanest space to eat her sandwich. The other two moved to do the same.

"Well, Laine and I both have a bunch more little tweaks to do," Sebastian started explaining.

"Which we wouldn't have to do if someone hadn't tried to work on the console and set a bunch of things off before they were ready," Laine said, pointedly glaring at Sebastian who appeared to be trying to ignore this, unsuccessfully.

"Right, so I just need to finish some of the wiring on the main console, and fix what Sebastian fiddled with." Delini replied while watching Sebastian fiddle with the container of mac'n'cheese, trying to get it open without throwing its contents all over the floor.

"That's the hinge side, Sebastian," Laine said sighing. Sebastian flipped it around, and pulled the tab, opening the container. He smiled sheepishly and then looked confused. Delini held up her hand, smiling smugly, presenting him with a plastic fork. Sebastian thanked her quietly, and took the fork, not looking at either of the giggling girls.

"So, as soon as we finish dinner let's get back to work. The sooner we finish up tonight, the faster we can get home and sleep!" Delini declared, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich.

"Hey, Delini, could we maybe switch jobs? Since you already took a break going to get the food and all, and the wiring isn't that hard." Laine asked, trying to be nonchalant.

"No thanks, I'd rather I did that since Chip and Dale explained exactly what needed to go where to me, and I'm the one who'll be piloting this thing anyway." Delini replied, a little haughtily, flaunting her seniority over the other two.

While Laine looked like she was about nineteen, being taller and more mature looking than Delini, she was actually nearly two years younger than her, Delini having just turned eighteen. Sebastian was almost fifteen, his birthday only a couple months away. Sebastian was technically Delini's brother, but they were not related by blood. Their parents had adopted him when he was about five years old; Delini didn't know where he had been before that and she didn't really care, she loved him all the same.

Delini doesn't remember ever seeing Laine as a baby, she just showed up one day, when Delini was about three, looking like a full grown two year old. Delini's parents swear that she is her 'uncle's' biological child, and Laine looks too much like him to really deny that. It was only recently, on Delini's eighteenth birthday that she was told the truth.

"Delini, that's just being unfair," Laine glared at her. Delini glared right back. After a couple of minutes, Sebastian focusing as much as he could on his Mac'n'Cheese, Laine gave in. "Alright, you fix the wiring and I'll go bang on stuff with the wrench," she said brandishing her...sandwich. "That is, after I finish my dinner." Laine took a bite, and grimaced.

Sebastian sighed, his face looking downcast.

"Why the sigh, Sebastian, are you upset about something?" Delini asked with concern, hopping off of the table. Laine paused in her eating to look at Sebastian.

"Is it 'cause Delini and I are always fighting?" Laine asked genuine concern for the youngest of them evident in her voice.

"No, well yeah but I'm used to it. I just," he paused and sighed again. "Why are we doing this? Why are we so desperate to leave here?"

"To get away from everyday life, see other worlds," stated Delini, getting a dreamy look on her face.

"To go on an adventure like our parents did!" exclaimed Laine.

Sebastian put on a smile, then sighed, and dug back into his mac'n'cheese.

00oo00oo00

Delini wiped the sweat from her brow as she sat back on her feet, and let out a relieved sigh. She had just finished the wiring in the main control board. Folding up the chart Chip and Dale had given her; Delini was a little upset with herself for taking so long. She had kept getting distracted by that dream.  
>She couldn't remember all of it, but what she could both scared and fascinated her.<p>

It had been about a week since Delini had the full dream that time on the beach, she hasn't had it since. Delini's been going back to mainland earlier than Laine and Sebastian when they stayed out late on the island to work on the Gummi ship, and going to sleep earlier to try and have the dream again; trying to understand it.

Indigo eyes looked up to the window, and Delini gave a start when she realized how late it was, even more upset for taking so long. Reasoning that she was indeed done with her job, and should probably let all their parents know that they were still alive, Delini decided to head back.

"Laine, Sebastian!" She shouted as she hopped out of the Gummi ship onto the floor of the garage.

She heard muffled replies of "Yeah."

"I finished the wiring in the main control board, but we should wait till tomorrow when you guys have finished the other repairs to test everything, you know so we don't make anything worse than it already is." Delini had taken a step back while she was talking to look up at Laine, who had popped her head over the side of the Gummi ship, having been working on the roof.

"Okay, so you gonna head home?" Laine called down.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night and I want to be fresh and energized for the testing tomorrow." Delini shouted back up excitedly.

"Right," Laine replied, nodding her head enthusiastically. "See you tomorrow."

Delini started walking towards the door, when Sebastian ran up to her and grabbed her arm.

"Tell mom and dad I'll be home in an hour or so would you?" he asked.

"Alright, I'll tell them," she ruffled his hair, "G'night, kiddo."

"Hey watch the goggles!" Sebastian cried, moving quickly out of Delini's way, and shielding his precious goggles.

Delini laughed as she walked out of the garage.

When Delini got to her room she realized how tired she was and collapsed on top of her bed, fully clothed. Before completely falling asleep, Delini glanced out her window.

"Huh, looks like there's gonna be a storm," she mumbled into her pillow and drifted off.

00oo00oo00

Delini was roughly brought out of her dreamless sleep by a shouting Sebastian.

"Delini, get up! We have to go now!" he was shaking her hard.

She was about to start grumbling when a bolt of lightning struck the strip of beach that could be seen out of Delini's window, instantly followed by a crash of thunder that struck terror into both of their hearts. It was at that moment that Delini saw what was happening to their world.

As she sat staring out the window the world around them was being broken and swallowed by darkness. Huge chunks of land crumbled away into nothingness.

"We have to get to the Gummi ship!" she screamed jumping out of bed and running down the stairs.

"Where are Mom and Dad?' Sebastian shouted trying to be heard over the storm ravaging their world.

"I don't know," Delini shouted back as they sprinted down the road, making a beeline for the boats.

"They weren't there when I came home earlier."

"Then where the hell are they?"

"I don't know, and we don't really have the time to look for them!" Delini shouted harshly, but softened when she realized how she had sounded. "I'm sure they're fine, Sebastian. Remember this has happened before, they'll know what to do; they might even be somewhere else right now." Delini wasn't sure whether she kept talking to reassure Sebastian or herself as they untied their boats and made their way to the island.

00oo00oo00

"Laine, how close are we to being able to take off?" Sebastian barked as he and Delini barged through the side door of the garage.

"I just have to," Laine paused, grunting as she pulled at a wrench, "tighten a few bulk heads and I'm set. Delini, you should get to work on the start-up sequence."

"Right, Sebastian go open the main garage door, then come straight to the ship, you too, Laine," Delini called over her shoulder as she broke back into a run towards the cockpit.

Sebastian ran over to the panel that held the controls for the garage, lights, AC, and doors, and quickly located and pressed the button for the main door. It started moving and he could hear the slight whirring of the machinery in the door when it stalled.

He pressed it again. Nothing happened.

He pressed it a third time, and again, nothing.

Sebastian slammed down on the button, truly beginning to panic. Wondering if he, Delini and Laine were gonna make it out alive, if his parents were still alive or if they were swallowed by darkness on their way home from where ever they were. When he lifted his hand, he saw that he had broken the button and once again nothing had happened. Something must have gotten hurled into the mechanism from the storm.

The nearly fifteen year old boy gave up on the ever getting the door open by any other means than physical force. He ran up the door and got his hands in the small opening that had resulted when Sebastian had first pressed the button. He started pulling with all the strength his wiry body could produce.

The door shifted, but it was slow going and grueling work. If he slackened at all the door would start to slide closed once again.

Twice Sebastian's hands slipped, the howling wind outside was hurling rocks and sand, nearly damaging his hands in a way that could be permanent. He caught it with his foot each time, and, while losing some progress, managed to keep the door open enough.

He had got the door nearly half way open when his hands slipped third time, and he nearly lost all the progress he had made.

The storm that ravaged Destiny Islands only grew in intensity. Parts of the island and most of the mainland were missing. Pieces of land were breaking away, flying upwards and crumbling into dust.

Suddenly, another pair of hands was on top of Sebastian's. He looked up and saw Laine looking down at him.

"Get into the ship and tell Delini to get her moving! I'll take care of this!" Laine had to shout to be heard over the roaring winds.

Sebastian hesitated for a moment, wanting to help his friend, but Laine just nodded and shouted something he didn't catch as she pointed at the ship, demanding that he get himself to safety. He begrudgingly left her there and boarded.

The wind, which was already intense, was picking up, throwing more things around as Laine wrenched the door open. She made quicker progress than Sebastian and had the door almost completely open in only a couple minutes.

Laine screamed at Delini to go, get the ship outside, and that she would catch up to it as soon as she could. She could see Delini nod from the cockpit window.

The silver-haired girl struggled to stand and hold up the heavy door, her will to survive and save her friends the only thing keeping her from giving in to the pressure and collapsing.

The Gummi ship started floating above the ground, and then turned slightly, to completely face the doorway. It started moving forward, at a crawl at first but slowly gaining speed.

Laine was awed as the ship passed by her out the door. It actually worked!

As soon as the end of the ship passed through the door, Laine released the door and sprinted to try and catch up with the ship, commanding her aching muscles to work just a little longer. The wind howling around her and pushing her back was not helping her any. Laine was beyond thankful now that her father had given her a warrior's body.

She could see Sebastian hanging out of the doorway telling her to run. He was saying something else but Laine couldn't hear him over the wind. Sebastian gripped the side of the door and leaned out, with one of his hands outstretched. She picked up speed, the desperate look on his face made her worried.

"Sebastian, tell her to slow down!" She screamed; panic rose in her voice. Slowly the ship began to rise.

"Delini, go back!" Laine heard Sebastian scream, nearly in tears. As he leaned back for a moment to shout at the girl she had considered a sister for her entire life Laine saw that she was frantically flipping switches and pressing buttons.

In the next moment the door began closing.

"Delini!" Laine shrieked. Laine knew then, Delini had left her behind on purpose. Hadn't she said herself that Chip and Dale had taught her all about the wiring?

Sebastian turned to face her; tears were now streaming down his face. The door finally shut. Her fate was sealed.

As the ship rose higher and higher into the air it made a slight turn and Laine could see both Delini and Sebastian. Sebastian was beating on the window, mouthing her name, probably screaming it. She looked at Delini, who still hadn't even looked at her, and she was still pressing buttons.

Finally she hit a large green button. Something happened with the ship then. It slowed down a little, shook and then disappeared with a bang and a flash of light.

Laine stopped running as she reached what was now the edge of the world. She stared at the spot where the ship had just disappeared. Her expression blank, she was in complete shock. As land around her crumbled away and her surroundings grew darker, her eyes began to sting with angry tears. She fell to her knees, tears now streaming down her face.

"Never," she whispered at first, "I swear I will never forgive her." She ended with a roar; a roar of rage and betrayal.

As soon as these words escaped her lips, black tendrils began wrapping around Laine. The girl closed her eyes, the tears still streaming down her cheeks, and let herself fall into the darkness that had taken everything she loved from her.

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><p>AN: Yeah, I'm one of those authors, that puts an A/N at the beginning and the end.

Anyway, I'll hopefully be updating once a week, if anyone actually cares to read more, I have the second chapter already written (for the most part anyway, there's still a little bit left to do) and have the entire third chapter's plot line planned out.

Also, if anyone is interested I have the links to drawings that my cousin has done of the characters and soon chapter covers and scenes that she thought were cool.

Please R&R! :)

-Arinhel Melleide


	2. A New Companion and the Truth

A/N: So is anyone still reading this after discovering that it was mostly about original characters? I know it might be hard to swallow, but bear with me here, I promise I shall do my best to make sure that they do not become Mary-Sues or Gary-Stus or worse than they are if you think they might be one.

So anyway, we get into the real plot of the story in this chapter, who the bad guys are and what the whole adventure shall be about.

So enjoy!

* * *

><p>"No, no, no! Why did I bring the manual back to the house, why didn't I just leave it here?" Delini shouted, tears pouring down her face as she pounded her fists on the console.<p>

"Delini, we have to turn around! You have to stop the ship! We have to go back and get her!" Sebastian, also in tears, was also shouting.

"I don't know how to, okay, Sebastian?" Delini turned and glared at him.

"You haven't tried everything then!" Sebastian lunged for the control board, first trying to tackle Delini out of the way. Delini ducked under Sebastian's arms and caught him around the waist, sending them both to the floor.

"Yes I have, nothing I do works!" Delini shouted as she sat on top of Sebastian's stomach. Sebastian started to struggle but then felt something wet hit his cheek. He looked up at Delini's face and saw tears streaming down her cheeks, continuing to drip onto his face. He stopped trying to fight her, realizing she was just as upset and scared as he was. "Anyway it's on a set course somewhere and we're in the middle of a warp. I don't know what fiddling with stuff will do!"

"Didn't you say hundreds of times that Chip and Dale showed you how to do everything, how everything worked?"

"Yeah, but I haven't ever actually flown this thing before. It's not as easy as figuring out how to drive a car. That's why we were going to do some testi—IIAH!" The Gummi Ship started to rock and shake, sending Delini, who had started to get off of Sebastian, to fall and nearly smash her face into Sebastian's. She caught herself at the last second, and quickly scrambled off of him to see what was going on.

"What the hell is happening, Delini?" Sebastian demanded as he stood up using the wall to steady himself in the shaking.

"I'm not entirely sure but I think that we missed something when we were doing the repairs." She noticed a red flashing light. "Yeah, I think that light flashing means something broke off during flight, wonder what happens if I press it? Ah, a schematics, let's see." The eighteen year old started mumbling as she poured over the schematic.

She suddenly shouted out, "No! What do we do now?"

"What's wrong, what broke off?"

"You know on planes there's that part of the wing the folds down to cause more drag, to slow the plane down for landing?" Her voice quaking as she tried to not panic.

"Yeah," Sebastian replied, it took a moment to register, "OH, so wait we can't slow down enough to land?"

"Nope,"

"So we're gonna crash?"

"Yep,"

"Oh," they both stared at the schematic. "Is it okay to panic now?" Sebastian asked bluntly.

"Yep," Delini replied.

Sebastian and Delini both looked at each other, screamed, grabbed onto anything that seemed sturdy enough, and held on for dear life.

Even with their holds, when the Gummi ship crashed into the ground, both Delini and Sebastian were flung into the windshield.

00oo00oo00

The first thing Delini felt when she woke up was something wet and smelling of dog breath making repeated passes over her face. As soon as that thought sunk in she opened her eyes and shot up, dislodging the dog that had sat himself on her stomach while trying to wake her.

"Pluto! What are you doing here? Where are we?" The world started to spin and Delini put a hand to her head to steady herself. "Ugh, my head hurts." When she pulled her hand back she saw blood. Then she remembered what happened.

"Sebastian, where is he?" Pluto bounded over to the other end of the cockpit behind one of the seats, and did his pointer dog pose. Delini scrambled up off the floor as best she could without making the world go all spinney again. She started hearing groaning noises from where Pluto was pointing, and a foot came into view.

"Oh, my head, what happened?" As Delini reached Sebastian, he started to sit up.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Delini exclaimed as she hugged him gently. "When the ship crashed and skidded we were flung into the glass. I guess when the tail-end fell to the ground we were thrown off the console to the floor." Delini explained as she pulled back to look at Sebastian's head for any injuries.

"Alright, but where are we?" Sebastian winced as she touched a sensitive spot.

"I don't know for sure, but Pluto's here so one of Dad's friends should be near here." As Delini looked around to confirm this with the bright yellow dog, she noticed he was at the open door of the Gummi Ship, wagging his tail and looking at them expectantly.

"Well, I guess he wants us to follow him." Sebastian commented as he tried to get up on his own, but failing due to a wave of dizziness and pain.

"Here, take my hand, and move slowly, otherwise you'll just aggravate your injury." Delini held out her hand for Sebastian to take, pulling him up slowly, and putting his arm around her shoulders so she would support most of his weight.

They made their slow way over to the door, the bright, cartoony dog wagging his tail happily. He jumped out of the door as they finally reached it, and noticed there was a significant drop down of nearly five feet.

"This might pose a small problem," Delini commented, formulating a way to get down. "Alright, you sit down on the edge," she said helping Sebastian to sit, following him down. She told him to stay put while she scooted forward and hopped down, landing somewhat unsteadily and nearly collapsing, but managing to catch the side of the Gummi ship just in time.

"Okay, now take both my hands," she proffered her hands up. Sebastian took them, and, understanding what Delini had in mind, slowly scooted forward and hopped down in front of his big sister.

In this moment, Delini took a second to contemplate how much taller than she her little brother had gotten. He was a good 2 ½ inches taller than her, and still growing. It made her a little sad to think that the sweet little boy she had known as her brother for most of her life was growing up and was going to be bigger than her very soon. That's why she took almost every opportunity to make him seem smaller and younger; ruffling his hair and grabbing him around the shoulders to pull him back down to her height.

"Would you look at this place?" Sebastian exclaimed in a hushed voice, almost in awe of what he saw around him, making Delini turn around to take in her surroundings as well.

The garden they had landed in was absolutely stunning. Gorgeous topiary was all around them, with small waist height hedges lining the pathways, and in the center what looked like a small fort, complete with working doors, made out of hedges. Flower beds were everywhere, filled with every kind of flower imaginable, creating an aroma unlike anything else in the multiverse. The truly awe-inspiring sight though, was the castle that surrounded the garden.

It was massive. The heights it reached shouldn't have been physically possible. The architecture almost didn't seem plausible, but it was there and it looked wonderful. She noticed a set of stairs leading up to a hallway that was open on the side facing the garden, allowing anyone walking by to view the magnificent garden and anyone or anything in it.

It was at this thought that Delini turned back to face the damage they had cause with the crash of the Gummi ship, and winced. She didn't want to think about who they were going to get into trouble with, or what they were going to do to them.

But as Delini stared at the carnage, she saw brooms walking themselves over and starting to clear up the mess. They put hedges back where they were supposed to go, trimmed destroyed topiary back into shape, and even started to lift the Gummi ship up so they could no doubt shove all the misplaced dirt back into place. The scary thing about it was they actually were lifting the Gummi ship.

"Woah," was the only thing Delini could say in response to what her brain translated as what her eyes were seeing.

"What? Oh," Sebastian had turned around on hearing Delini's exclamation and had the same response.

Both of them stood there, slack-jawed, eyes goggling for a minute until Pluto barked, startling them back to their current situation.

"Right, where to now, Pluto?" Sebastian asked. The dog responded by way of waving his head in the general direction of the staircase, and then heading off in that direction himself. "Okay, follow the yellow, brick dog, I guess?" he suggested with a shrug.

Delini chuckled at the little joke, and made to help him walk again, but he waved her off saying he was fine now. She looked at him somewhat disapproving but let him be as they started walking, and he seemed to have no problem.

00oo00oo00

Sebastian seemed to be cheerful, taking in his surroundings with a never ceasing wonder, commenting on this and that piece of architecture or statue. Delini followed Pluto along in silence, finally having the time to contemplate what had just happened to her life.

Her home had been destroyed, her world. The beaches she had spent many happy days on, the beautiful, shimmering, blue ocean that surrounded her island home, the island where she spent most of her childhood pretending she was on one of her father's adventures in other worlds. It was all gone.

And almost all of the people she had ever known were gone too. Delini had lost her closest friend too; right at the time when she needed Laine the most. Sure she and Laine had fought all the time over just about everything, but they were still best friends, more like sisters really. They shared everything with each other, told all their secrets; saw each other at their most vulnerable moments. And now she was just gone.

Delini and Sebastian had no idea where their parents were either, or if they were even alive still. Though she was pretty sure that they were alive somewhere. They had survived the last time the worlds were being destroyed and gone through so much, when they were younger than Sebastian. They had to be alive, they just had to be.

"Delini, are you okay?" A voice startled her out of her reverie. She looked up into Sebastian's concerned face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine," she tried to smile and look happy, but obviously failed if Sebastian's face was anything to go by. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened today." Sebastian's expression turned somber, and he looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, but we'll be okay!" he exclaimed his head shooting up, a determined look on his face. "We'll find Mom and Dad; they'll know what to do. Things will get better, you'll see!" Sebastian was trying to sound reassuring, though whether he was trying to reassure Delini or himself, even he wasn't sure.

"That's a very good way to look at the situation you're in. I can tell your father's way of thinking has definitely rubbed off on you." A new voice announced, surprising both of the teens. They looked over to the now open door they were standing in front of, and saw, no one. They heard a polite cough and looked down slightly.

What they saw was a small, undoubtedly, female mouse person in a voluminous red dress and a tiara. As they looked at her she brought her gloved hands together on the front of her dress.

"Queen Minnie!" Delini shouted as knelt down and gave the mouse queen a tight hug.

"Yes, hello, dear, it really has been too long. And you've had a very trying day I'm sure." Queen Minnie replied, returning Delini's hug.

Delini didn't reply, just held on tighter, holding back the tears she knew would come as soon as she opened her mouth to speak.

It was a shocking sight for Sebastian. To see the person he looked up to (figuratively speaking of course), and depended on reduced to near tears. Sure, she had been upset on the Gummi ship but she had kept on moving and focusing on the situation, but he had never seen her succumb to her emotions and collapse. Seeing her clinging onto Queen Minnie like she was the only thing that would keep her from becoming a quivering ball of tears, was something Sebastian had never prepared himself to see in his life.

Minnie rubbed Delini's back in soothing circles and whispered something in her ear. Delini realized what she was doing and straightened herself up, reluctantly letting go of the small queen.

"I'm sorry; it has been a hard day." Delini replied, chuckling sadly, as she and Sebastian followed her into what they discovered was the library. The queen led them over to a sitting area with a coffee table and a couch that looked extremely inviting at that moment, but they didn't dare sit until they were sure they were allowed to. Delini watched as the queen literally hopped up into a cozy looking chair across from the couch, and Pluto bounded over to his dog basket next to a desk in the corner of the room, having done his job.

"Now, you two have a seat, and I shall explain all that I can to you about the current situation." She said waving her hand towards the couch. They moved as fast as was politely possible and their somewhat injured condition allowed them, and sat down in the comfy couch with a sigh.

"Am I correct in assuming your parents have told you stories about their adventures and battles with the Heartless and Nobodies?" Sebastian and Delini both nodded their heads. "Good, that means you know what keyblades are for and what they do but not really why only certain people can wield them. Now keyblade wielders are chosen by a keyblade if they have a strong heart and will, and have somehow come into contact with a keyblade. Usually there is supposed to be a ceremony performed by a Master keyblade wielder and his, or her, chosen successor, but it is possible for this to occur by accident, as it did with both of your parents, and I believe with you Delini."

Both Delini and Sebastian looked at the queen with shock.

"You have seen your father wield his keyblade, yes?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember ever going near it. I was always sort of afraid to go near it 'cause I could tell it was really powerful." Delini trailed off in thought. "Oh, there was one time, when I was really little. Daddy took me somewhere, and we were attacked by something. I think I hid behind his leg, and then there was this glow and I felt safer. That's all I can remember, it was a really long time ago." Delini wasn't prepared to tell anyone about the dream she had about the cathedrals of the heart.

"Well the only way to know for sure is if you try to bring it out, dear. So why don't you try?" Queen Minnie gave her a reassuring smile and gestured to the empty space in the middle of the library.

Delini got up and moved to stand in the center of the library. She closed her eyes held out her right hand, palm down, and concentrated. She thought about that time when she had felt utterly safe, the image of her father standing strong with his keyblade out, all the light and hope she felt when she thought of her parents. There was the familiar chinking sound, and her hand instinctively grabbed onto whatever had appeared. Delini opened her eyes and stared at the keyblade from her dream.

"Wow, Delini, you've got a keyblade!" Sebastian exclaimed as he jumped off the couch and ran towards his sister.

"Yeah, I guess I do, but, uh, Queen Minnie?" She called out nervously.

"Yes, dear?"

"How do I put it away?" The queen giggled at this.

"Just concentrate, but think the opposite of when you called it out." Delini did so, closing her eyes again. There was the sound and the weight was gone from her hand.

Suddenly the door to the library burst open, and a tall boy strode in quickly.

"Queen Minnie, a world has disappeared and Heartless have appeared on another!" He shouted, then noticing there were people in the room his pace faltered and he stopped moving. "Who are you?" he asked loudly and incriminatingly.

"I could ask you the same thing, just bursting into the room like that, who do you think you are?" Delini shouted back.

"I asked first!" he shouted.

"Will both of you please be quiet!" A shocked silence filled the room as all three teens turned to look at Queen Minnie. "Thank you. Now to answer both your questions, this is Atar. His home world was sadly destroyed two years ago, but he somehow found his way here and has been working as a scout for me ever since. He is a keyblade wielder." Atar's face took on an expression of seniority and importance, almost cocky.

"Atar, this is Delini and Sebastian. They are the children of the saviors of the multiverse." The cocky look on Atar's face dropped instantly in favor of one of shock and open disbelief.

"So it was your world that disappeared last night." Delini nodded solemnly. "Then you're the only ones that survived? You left all your friends behind to save your own skins?" He asked reproachfully.

"No! Laine was supposed to come with us, but…" Delini trailed off, still not willing to admit out loud that she had left her best friend behind to be swallowed in the darkness. On purpose or not, Delini blames herself for what happened.

"But you left your friend behind, to be destroyed along with your world." Atar stated coldly.

"No, not on purpose…" Delini said so quietly only Sebastian, who was still standing just behind her, could hear. As Sebastian watched Delini, he thought he saw tears rolling down her cheek. At this he quickly moved forward to get a good look at her face. Her eyes were wide, and tears streamed down her face, her expression one of shock and denial.

"And let's face it; your parents are probably gone too," Atar continued coldly. "Along with all the other friends you left behind. Just accept that's what happened and move on." Delini dropped to the floor, her legs not able to support her any longer, still staring straight ahead. She was hugging herself tightly, as if she was afraid she would break apart if she let go.

"Atar, that's enou-" Queen Minnie started to say, but stopped as Sebastian slammed his fist into Atar's face.

"Shut up! You don't know what happened!" Sebastian shouted, bringing Delini out of her reverie. She slowly got up, and then sprinted past Sebastian and Atar and out the library door. Sebastian and the queen stared after her rapidly disappearing figure, with worried expressions. Atar still had his head to the side from when Sebastian punched him; his dark bangs fell over his eyes, making his expression indeterminable.

"Atar that was most uncalled for," Queen Minnie spoke sternly. Moving to stand between Atar and Sebastian, in case he decided to retaliate, or Sebastian tried to hit him again for making his sister cry.

"Well, I have to say I was hoping that the first time I saw Delini in almost ten years, she wouldn't be sprinting down my hallways, crying. Just what did you say to her?" All eyes in the room turned towards the door again, as King Mickey entered the room.

"Thank goodness you're here Mickey." Minnie walked over to her husband. "Can you go see if Delini is alright, and explain the situation about their parents? I think it would be best for her to hear it from you."

"Right, I'll go find her. She's probably in the garden somewhere." He turned and left.

"Now Atar," Queen Minnie started, "their whole lives have been turned upside down in a matter of hours, and they, unlike you, were very close to the people of their world. They were actually friends, good friends, with most of the people they knew , and while Sebastian's punching you in the face was also uncalled for," she looked sharply at Sebastian. It was odd how such an adorable and sweet person as Queen Minnie could look so disapproving, but she managed it just fine.

"He was somewhat justified, because you should not have been so harsh on Delini. It takes a lot to make that girl cry, but she takes it all in and bottles it up inside her. She blames herself anytime something goes wrong and she thinks she could have done something to help. On a day like today I'm surprised she's not catatonic after what you have said to her." Atar finally moved, turning his head to face the floor, clenching his fists at his side.

00oo00oo00

Cool, black, emptiness was all Laine knew now. She felt as if she'd been suspended here in this meaningless space for several lifetimes, and in the same instance felt the fresh sting of betrayal so strongly that she swore she could only have arrived here moments ago. The only thing she had here was her bitterness and rage. It slowly consumed her and tainted her heart, making her much more susceptible to the darkness that enveloped her weakening body.

Just as the young female had given up hope of ever escaping her dark prison she heard the unfamiliar voice of a man echoing in her mind.

'_You have great potential, Laine_,' mused the voice, '_much like your father_.'

'_You know my name? You know my father?_' Laine thought as her spirits rose, filled with hope at any chance of rescue.

'_I know many things, Laine, and I know that you can be of great help to my cause. Are you willing to leave this place and join my ranks in the battle for the all-powerful Kingdom Hearts?_'

Without a moment's hesitation Laine consented. She honestly could have cared less for this man's cause, but if it meant freedom she knew she would do just about anything. Suddenly a dark portal was opened behind her and a man in a dark cloak exited. She turned slowly, wanting to see the face of her savior, but his hood kept his face in complete shadow.

The cloaked man stepped to the left of the portal and held his hand out toward the swirling vortex, inviting her to enter it. Laine nodded and moved quickly into the portal, exiting on the other end into a dimly lit room. Several people stood in the shadows, silently observing the newcomer.

"Welcome to the Liberators, Laine." The voice spoke from behind, but aloud this time instead of sounding in Laine's mind, turning out to be the man who had pulled her out of the darkness.

"Why are you called the Liberators, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Because we plan to liberate the worlds from the oppression of the keyblade bearers; for too long have they fought and destroyed in the name of goodness and light, when really all they fight for is their own personal gain. Each of us here has been hurt by them in some way. Most of our worlds were destroyed because of keyblade bearers, a few have been hurt personally by keyblade bearers, like you." The man spoke with fervor and passion.

Laine, though tall for her age, could still see a little under the hood, enough to see a maniacal glint in the man's gleaming amber eyes. It gave her slight shivers. Then what he had said registered in her mind.

"I've been betrayed by a keyblade bearer? The only person I've been betrayed by was my supposed friend Delini." She spat out the name like it burned her tongue to even mention it.

"Yes, Delini is a keyblade bearer, though she herself only discovered this recently." He led Laine to the center of the room where another one of the Liberators, held out a cloak that was similar to the one they were all wearing. "Now, Laine, how would you like to get your revenge?" the man whispered quietly into her ear. Laine's eyes widened, and then burned with a fiery vengeance as she nodded her head and took the cloak.

"I would love to."

00oo00oo00

Delini was huddled in a secluded corner of the garden, hidden behind a hedge and a large topiary statue of Yen Sid's magic hat, complete with stars and moons made out of flowers. She was sobbing quietly, not really wanting to be found just yet.

"It's all my fault, I should've been more careful with the controls. It's all my fault." A rather loud sob escaped her as she said this, causing her to fall onto her side. She didn't pick herself back up, just let herself lay on the ground, sobbing, no longer worrying about being quiet.

"It's not your fault, Delini." A familiar high-pitched voice spoke, and Delini's head shot up off the ground in shock.

"King Mickey," she said in an almost reverent whisper as said mouse king stepped closer so he could give the still crying teenaged girl a hug, a hug which she returned with full force, once again sobbing into Mickey's shoulder and repeating his name.

"I wish we were meeting again under different circumstances Delini, but it is nice to see you and you've grown up so much." The king spoke fondly to the daughter of one of his closest friends.

"Not enough apparently," Delini said between sobs, "I'm still letting everyone down, and I didn't program the ship right, and I left, I left Lai-" she couldn't finish what she was saying, as the sobs wracked her body once more.

"I know, but that wasn't your fault. You're only eighteen, Delini, you shouldn't even have been able program a Gummi ship by yourself at all, but you did. Mistakes happen, Laine being left behind was not your fault." Delini flinched as the truth was finally spoken aloud, her sobs quieting, but tears still streaming down her face.

"But what about Mom and Dad, what happened to them? They weren't anywhere in the house, and I haven't seen them since yesterday morning. Atar's right isn't he?" she was speaking in a quiet whisper now, and if Mickey hadn't had ears the size he did, he probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Right about what, Delini? What did he say to you?" King Mickey asked concern evident in his voice.

"That Mom and Dad are gone too, and that I left them, and that I should accept that they're never coming back."

King Mickey brought her to arm's length in front of him. "That is not true, Delini. Your parents are fine, I sent them a message saying I wanted to see them this afternoon, and I guess they didn't want to disturb you guys when you were having fun fixing up the old Highwind. We didn't realize that they wouldn't be able to make it back in time to save Destiny Islands."

"So where are they now? Are they here?" Delini asked excitedly, looking around as if she was expecting her mother to pop out from behind a bush a give her a hug.

"Well, yes and no."

"What do you mean?" Delini asked confused. The king just looked at her sadly.

"I think it would better if we went back to the library. This is something that your brother needs to hear too." He took Delini's hand, indicating that she should stand up, and lead her back to the library.

00oo00oo00

As King Mickey lead Delini and Sebastian to whatever they were going to show them, Sebastian took the time to observe his sister. She seemed alright, but anyone that knew what to look for though, would see the signs. While her face was no longer red, or even blotchy, he could see the glassiness of her eyes, and the way she kept sniffling and taking deep breaths told Sebastian that Delini was still fighting off the tears.

He probably would've asked if she was okay, but he knew that she would lie. So he turned his attention inward.

He too blamed himself for what happened to Laine. The young teen kept thinking that if only he had been strong enough to hold the door open, Laine wouldn't have had to come over and help him, she wouldn't have been left behind. He didn't blame Delini for what happened, well he did a little. For bragging about how she knew how to work all the controls, when she didn't really. He wouldn't tell her that just yet, knowing she was in enough pain.

Thinking about Laine being left behind, and after hearing how Queen Minnie described his and Delini's relationship with the people of their world, how they were friends, made him think about all of his other friends that were destroyed along with the world. All of his friends from school, the neighbors' five year-old boy who practically hero-worshiped Sebastian after he saw him practicing the sword techniques his father taught him, the cat that he was secretly taking care of; all just gone.

Atar was also with them, though he hadn't said a word since before Sebastian punched him. He hadn't made eye contact with anyone since then either. He was lost in thought, contemplating what he had said to Delini, and regretting he had ever opened his mouth. Atar had been speaking the truth, though he realized now he could have been a bit more tactful, but that girl couldn't have any illusions as to what happened.

What Atar hadn't counted on was the immense feeling of guilt that would come after watching her break down completely.

"Here we are." Mickey announced, breaking all three teens out of their respective thoughts.

They were standing in front of a massive white door, at the bottom of a long stair case. Mickey, looking almost comically small compared to the door, walked up and opened a panel and pressed a switch. The bottom section of the door started to slide into the walls. He motioned for them to all step forward through the door.

As soon as the three of them entered the room behind the door, they instantly felt the temperature drop drastically. Delini and Sebastian both started shivering and rubbing theirs arms, having lived their whole lives on a tropical island, where even in winter the temperature never got anywhere close to freezing. Atar, though he showed very little outward discomfort, a slight chattering could be heard coming from his mouth. The fact that all three of them were wearing sleeveless shirts wasn't helping any.

"Why is it so cold in here?" Delini asked through chattering teeth.

"Sorry, kids, it's necessary to keep them stable, and throw the enemy off their trail."

"Keep who stable, you majesty?" Atar asked, trying to hide that his teeth were chattering, but failing.

"The previous saviors of the multiverse," Mickey said, keeping them moving forward, the smoky substance that filled the room cleared a little and they could make out two shapes. The haze cleared completely and Delini could see just what the shapes were. They were pods of some kind and they were somewhat translucent so you could see what, or in this case who, was inside them, "Sora and Riku."

"Dad!" Sebastian and Delini both shouted at the same time. They would have run up too, but King Mickey grabbed both their hands as they started to pass him.

"Your majesty, might I ask why you are keeping them here in stasis?" Atar asked. "I know you said it was to throw the enemy off their trail but why do they have to be kept asleep?"

"Well, as soon as we heard that Destiny Islands was going to be destroyed next, Sora, Riku and Kairi took off in their Gummi ship. Unfortunately they didn't make it in time to save anyone, and their Gummi ship got caught in a vortex of darkness. Luckily they ejected from the Gummi ship and the pods' homing beacon ensured that they made their way here. Unfortunately, the close contact with the darkness caused them to fall into a coma."

"But, where's our mom?" Delini asked in a quiet voice.

"We don't know, I'm sorry, something must have gone wrong with the homing beacon on her pod." King Mickey looked down at the ground as he said this, not wanting to see the disappointment on Delini and Sebastian's faces. "The enemy I spoke of is a group that call themselves the Liberators. They are searching for and destroying worlds that are aligned or the homes of keyblade bearers. They claim they are ridding the multiverse of an oppressing ruler."

"What else do they want? They must be after something else other than just getting rid of keyblade bearers." Delini asked. "I mean based on past experiences with evil organizations that we've had they usually want to create or control Kingdom Hearts to take over the multiverse."

"I am not a hundred percent sure on this, but I think that their leader doesn't want to kill keyblade bearers, I think that he is looking for a specific one, someone whose heart is pure enough to help produce the ultimate keyblade." Mickey answered, finally looking Delini in the eyes again with an expression of concern.

"So, Kairi, a princess of heart, holder of one of the purest hearts in the multiverse, bearer of a keyblade, is missing when there are people out there looking for keyblade bearers with a pure enough heart to create a master keyblade?" Atar stated. They all looked at him, looked at each other, and as it clicked in their heads, Delini put a hand over her mouth in shock.

"We have to find my mother before they do!" Delini shouted.

"Yes, good idea, Delini, I want you, Atar and Sebastian to go search for Kairi, try going to Radiant Garden first. That is her original world, and there are people there who should be able to aid you in your search. While you are doing that I also want you to try and help any worlds you come across that are being overrun with the Heartless." They all nodded. "Delini I'm putting you in charge."

"What?" Delini and Atar both shouted and looked at the mouse king. Delini's expression was shocked and confused. Atar was also shocked but he was more outraged than confused.

"Your majesty, with all due respect shouldn't I be in charge? I mean, I'm older than her for one, and I have more experience with both traveling the worlds and fighting the Heartless!" Atar's tanned face had tinges of red; his voice had grown louder with each word he spoke.

"I understand this, Atar, but it is Delini's mother and this kind of thing just runs in her blood. Her father was almost four years younger than is when he was thrown in all of this."

"Are you sure King Mickey?" Delini asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes, I am very sure. You will leave as soon as Chip and Dale finish the repairs to your Gummi ship."

"We get to take our Gummi ship?" Sebastian, who had been staring at his father sleeping in the pod the entire time the conversation had been going on finally piped up.

"Yes, you spent so long repairing it and once Chip and Dale have fixed it up no further problems, such as the ones that cause you to crash here," the king chuckled at that, "should happen." He looked at the three teenagers, Delini with an expression of awe and gratitude, Atar glaring at, but sort of admiring, Delini, and Sebastian with a determined expression that was so like his father's, it was hard to remember that he was adopted.

"Good luck you three."


	3. Crash Landing and a Duel

A/N: Alright, this chapter is long overdue and I apologize to the people who actually do read this. My cousin and I both had a bit if writer's block and then she lost her internet so I couldn't get the pieces that she wrote for a couple days, but here we are now, a week and a half late...

Anyway, in this chapter we get to see if I suck or not at writing fight scenes!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"I still find it hard to believe that King Mickey put you in charge of this, in charge of me." Atar hissed at Delini as they made their way down the stairs to Gummi Garage the next morning. They had spent the night in Disney Castle seeing as Delini and Sebastian hadn't gotten any real sleep since the night before Destiny Islands was destroyed.<p>

"Well, you better learn to believe it quick, 'cause I am in charge and we're leaving as soon as the Gummi ship can fly." Delini replied harshly as she jumped the last few steps to get away from Atar faster, landing gracefully, bouncing off to meet Chip and Dale. Atar seethed quietly, breathing heavily, and punched the wall in frustration.

"I'm sorry about my sister, she can be a bit bossy sometimes," Sebastian stated as he came level with Atar on the stairs. "But, even though she doesn't seem like it right now, she's still really upset about what happened, so I would appreciate it if you would bear with it for a little while. I know it's annoying but this is how she's coping." Sebastian moved to put his hand on Atar's shoulder, but Atar moved out of the way and stomped down the stairs, giving no indication that he had agreed to what Sebastian had asked. Sebastian shrugged and followed him.

"Well, hello Delini!" Two high-pitched voices cried simultaneously, as two small chipmunks ran up and hugged her legs. Delini crouched down and patted each of them on the head, greeting them.

"Does everyone here know you?" Sebastian asked.

"Dad used to take me here all the time before he and Mom adopted you, so yeah, most of them do." Delini replied as she stood back up.

"But what about the brooms, those surprised you?" Sebastian countered.

"Well, I had seen them before, but I didn't think they would be able to lift a Gummi ship." Delini chuckled. She then directed her attention back to Chip and Dale. "How much more of the repair work needs to be done? I'll help in any way I can."

"There are a few things to be done, but Dale can help Atar and Sebastian do those. I want you to come with me and I'll help you work out the kinks in the controls." Chip announced as Dale waved for Atar and Sebastian to follow him to the nose of the Gummi ship. Delini followed Chip inside.

00oo00oo00

"Alright, is everyone buckled in?" Chip asked over the intercom.

Delini, Sebastian and Atar were all strapped into the pilot chairs in front of the main console in the cockpit. The repairs had taken a little over an hour, but as soon as Chip and Dale said that it was okay to take off, Delini was already in the pilot seat starting the take-off sequence.

"Yes, we're ready to go!" Delini replied enthusiastically. She was practically bubbly with excitement, and Atar was having a hard time believing that she was still upset about what happened. He concluded that Sebastian was just trying to look out for his sister, and that he did not, in fact, have to tip-toe around Delini as if she would break at the slightest disturbance.

"Good luck finding Kairi you guys," Dale squeaked.

"Launch in T-minus Five," Chip's voice sounded; Delini's stared forward through the windshield with a determined look.

"Four," Sebastian pulled his goggles down over his eyes.

"Three," Atar, who had been fiddling with a string of beads, put them in his pocket.

"Two," Delini gripped the controls.

"One," the engines roared, the main thrusters igniting, as the Gummi Ship lifted off the ground, and fell through the hole that had just opened beneath it. Delini could almost hear Goofy's classic howl as they fell through the bottom of Disney Castle and took off for new worlds.

00oo00oo00

"For the love of all that is good, will you shut up!" screamed Delini.

"No, I will not shut up, Delini, because you need to turn us around and go back to that world we just passed!" Atar screamed back.

They had been flying through the multiverse for a few hours when they had come upon a world. Delini had asked which one it was and Atar had told her it was Alamut, the world he had discovered to have Heartless appear on it. Delini said they would come back to it later then, wanting to go to Radiant Garden and get information first.

Their fighting had been going on for a good ten minutes and Delini had stopped flying the ship to get up and shout at Atar, who had been walking around the cockpit looking at scanners and the like.

Sebastian had left the cockpit altogether as soon as they started fighting, but because there wasn't much on the Gummi ship and he had seen most of it when he, Delini and Laine had been rebuilding it, he came back to cockpit after only a few minutes. He had been watching them silently for a little while, but decided it was time to intervene. After several quiet attempts to gain their attention, Sebastian settled on just screaming over them.

"Will you both shut up!" They stopped and stared at Sebastian in shock; then Delini started to look a little sheepish.

"Sorry, Sebastian, what do you need?" Delini asked, instantly falling back into being the caring older sister. Atar dropped his shocked expression, and was silently edging towards the controls.

"I need the both of you to stop arguing and just decide where you want to go. We're right in between Radiant Garden and Alamut, on Radiant Garden we can get help in finding Mom, on Alamut there's people that may need our help, we can go to both but not at the same time. Which is more important?" Sebastian ranted. Delini opened her mouth to speak, but closed it on contemplation.

Meanwhile Atar had managed to make it to the console without being noticed by either of the other two. He laid his hands on the controls, and they made a loud beeping sound. He cursed under his breath as Delini spun around glaring at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted as she stalked over to him and wrenched his hands off of the controls. In doing this the ship was sent off towards a third world that none of them had noticed until that point.

"What did you do?" Sebastian shouted as he hopped into his seat and buckled in. Delini and Atar, all thoughts of the argument postponed until they were out of danger, remained standing. They were flying around the console, trying to slow the ship down enough so she wouldn't have a second crash landing.

"Atar, what world are we heading towards?" Delini shouted, as she tried to gain control of the speeding Gummi ship.

"It's Traverse Town!"

"What?" Delini spared a glance of confusion at Atar, before refocusing her attention to the view screen. "I thought Traverse Town vanished after the worlds were restored that time when my parents were kids!"

"Well, since worlds are being destroyed again, I guess it reappeared."

"Does this really matter at the moment? We're gonna crash if you two don't do something!" Sebastian shouted hysterically.

"Atar, can you power up the shields, as high as they can go?"

"Yeah, what are you thinking?"

"The main computer is overriding me, and I can't get it to slow down enough to prevent damage to the ship. If we raise the shields, it will drain some of the power from the engines and may slow us down enough, and if it doesn't then damage will be prevented because the shields will protect us!" Delini exclaimed.

'_That's actually a good idea,_' Atar thought as he raised the shields, adding all the power he could, rerouting energy from unnecessary things, and the engines.

The effect this had on the engines was minimal, but enough energy was put into the shields that they were still safe. Or at least the ship wouldn't get any damage. The speed with which the ship would enter the world would still throw the three of them around like ragdolls. Atar realized this as they were entering Traverse Town's atmosphere.

He acted quickly, he told Sebastian to unbuckle himself and jump when he thought it would be safest. Then he moved over to Delini.

"Delini, the shield will save the ship from getting damaged, but it won't protect us from the laws of physics! We need to jump off!" He shouted over the alarms and sirens going off throughout the ship.

"No way am I leaving this thing to crash somewhere! We'll have no way of finding it!" She shouted back, glaring at him with burning anger.

"Yes we will! Traverse Town is not that big of a world, it shouldn't take too long to find it!"

"I'm not gonna risk that!"

Atar rolled his eyes and mutter something under his breath that sounded a lot like, 'I am so going to regret this,' and grabbed Delini around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. She screamed indignantly, shouting for him to put her down, and slamming her fists into his back and kicking her legs trying to get free. Atar walked over to the door that Sebastian had left open after he had jumped, trying to ignore the fact that he had a pretty, 18 year old girl over his shoulder.

Despite that he already could barely stand being around her, Atar had to admit that Delini was rather attractive, the most striking feature being her deep mahogany colored hair, and bright indigo eyes. Other than that she had a pretty proportioned build, slight but apparently stronger than she looked, if the pounding she was giving his back and the trouble he was having keeping her legs from kicking him was anything to go by.

This was really not the time to being thinking about this though. The ship was getting close to the ground and luckily nearing a pool.

"Sorry about this, I hope you don't mind getting wet!" Atar shouted as he jumped out the door, Delini and all, timing it just right so they landed, with a splash, into the pool.

"What the hell is your problem?" Delini spluttered as she pulled herself out of the pool. "If you had been even a little off in your timing, we'd be splattered all over the pavement!"

"Yeah well, I wasn't off and getting wet is better than being splattered all over the view screen of the Gummi ship, which is what would have happened if we hadn't jumped." Atar retorted as he shoved his bangs out of his eyes and hoisted himself out of the pool sitting next to her. Delini had pulled her headband into a different position so it was keeping her hair away from her face as she squeezed out the excess water from it.

"But what about Sebastian, we have no idea where he is? We can't search for him with the Gummi ship cause that's gone too!" Delini shouted as she stood up, whipping her hair behind her shoulder, spraying Atar's face in the process. She stared down at Atar, which made him feel a little weird.

"And whose fault is that!" he shouted back, rising to his feet as well, using his height to his advantage, and now staring down at her.

"So this is my fault now is it?" Delini was screaming now, seemingly not intimidated by having to look up a good seven inches to glare directly in Atar's eyes.

Despite her extreme dislike, of the arrogant, cocky, boy in front of her, Delini couldn't help but admit to herself that Atar was an extremely good-looking guy. The water from the pool made his already tight fitting shirt outline each of his muscles, which were tense with his frustration. His dark hair, made even darker from the pool water, kept falling into his eyes, which Delini only now noticed, were actually a dark hazel green, as opposed to the dark brown she had thought they were.

"Yes, it's your fault! You're the one who pressed all the buttons on the panel!" Atar snapped, bringing Delini back from staring into his eyes, reminding herself, that while Atar was attractive, he was still an arrogant asshole who thought he was better than her.

"I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't been trying to sneak towards the controls!" she countered, putting her hands on her hips, inadvertently pulling her shirt up higher, revealing a strip of tanned midriff. Atar noticed this and finally realized her shirt was sticking to her like a second skin, and had gone slightly translucent. He blushed slightly at the images that thought brought to his teenaged mind.

"Anyway us arguing isn't gonna help us find the Gummi ship any faster," he quickly looked away from Delini as he ended the argument.

"You're right, but I'm worried about Sebastian. He's by himself somewhere, and I'm worried." Delini's voice went back to its usual volume as she glanced around them, hoping to catch a glimpse of her brother's red hair. As she did this she realized that pool they had landed in was actually a fountain in the middle of a town square, and their argument had gathered a crowd. As she realized this she also realized she was dripping wet and her clothes were clinging and slightly transparent with the water.

She grabbed Atar's hand, brutally squashing the rebellious thought about how nice his hand felt in hers, and sprinted towards the nearest alley.

As they ran they were completely unaware of the hooded watcher in the crowd that gathered in the square near where they were jumping. He swiftly stepped into a nearby alley and tapped the air. From that point a dark portal opened, which the hooded figure stepped through.

00oo00oo00

The enormous ship moved silently through the multiverse. It was a marvel to behold, its appearance was that of an enormous tiered fortress. At first glance easily mistaken for one of the many worlds that populated the multiverse, but upon closer inspection one would see that it is actually that it is slowly drifting through space.

The sharp tapping of Laine's feet hitting the floor echoed around the enormous, dimly lit hallways. She was moving at a very brisk pace, her face held an expression that was a mixture of irritation and hatred. If Delini or Sebastian had been onboard they would have immediately known to leave her alone, they knew how Laine could get when she was in one of her moods.

Soon Laine had reached her destination; she stopped in front of a large pair of doors at the end of the ridiculously lengthy main hall. Without a moment's hesitation she wrapped her fingers around the door handle and wrenched at it, flinging it open behind her as she stormed in. A hushed conversation was being held between her fearless leader and a member she had not yet met.

She wasn't particularly surprised by this, there were maybe 50 other members of the organization onboard. Laine only had a chance to meet a few of them since she was spending the majority of her time in the training room. The other unknown member seemed annoyed by the newest member's sudden entry, his dull gray eyes shooting her an angry glare, but the leader didn't seem to have any kind of reaction to her at all, other than turning around to look at her.

"Why the hell am I still here?" Laine screeched across the dark hall, as she stalked towards them. "I'm sick of waiting around on this boring ship; you promised me I would have my revenge!"

"Calm yourself, Laine." It wasn't said in a menacing way, but Laine shivered at the leader's voice and stood in place, seething quietly. "I was going to call you, but now it seems I won't have to. Delini has been located."

"Yeah, I found her, and her friend too, on Traverse Town. They jumped out of their ship into a pool in the middle of the main square. It was quite a nice view, I gotta say, almost made me take her for myself and-" the rest of his sentence was cut short as Laine's hand wrapped around his throat and he was shoved against the wall.

"Don't you even think of touching Delini!" Laine growled menacingly, tightening her grip.

"Ooh, scary. I thought you wanted her dead at any cost?" He was un-phased by Laine's strangle hold and continued in his teasing.

"I want to be the one to do it though, I'm not gonna let anyone else near her." Laine emphasized her point by pressing harder on his windpipe. The man's grey eyes started to glow red and he raised his hands from his sides, a glowing ball of red light hovering above each palm.

"That's enough, both of you." The raised voice of the leader had an immediate effect on both Laine and the other man. She dropped her hand from his throat and the glowing balls dispersed from his hands. They moved to instantly kneel before him. Laine may have been a bit of a rebel, but there was something about that voice that told her it wouldn't be a good idea to disobey.

"Now, Laine, I am sending you to Traverse Town, I want you to take Shadows with you, distract the townspeople and capture some hearts, while you go after her. Dahaka here will show you the way to the dark portal bay and give you what you need to control the Heartless and defeat Delini." Laine nodded, and both she and Dahaka stood up and walked out.

00oo00oo00

"We need to find the Gummi ship before some random citizen does." Atar suggested, looking down at their joined hands, not quite sure what to make of what his eyes were seeing. Delini noticed and quickly dropped his hand.

"I want to find Sebastian first. He jumped out before us and the Gummi ship was much higher, he could be hurt." Atar noticed the sincere concern and love she had for her brother, and it stunned him. He had had family once, when he was very young, but his home had been an unforgiving desert land with few cities, which were at war with one another. He had lost his family and spent most of his life on the streets as an orphan, not trusting or caring for anyone.

"You go find Sebastian; I'll look for the Gummi ship, and make sure nothing's happened to it, alright?" Atar conceded not able to look Delini in the eyes, not wanting to see the grateful look that would no doubt grace her face, fearing the emotions they would bring.

"Right!" she exclaimed, and then she was gone, leaving him alone, again.

00oo00oo00

As Laine stepped out of the portal, she shivered. The darkness was cold, but she was more repulsed with the man that had taught her how to use the portal. Dahaka gave her the creeps. She shivered again in disgust, and shook her head to clear it. Laine thought of her hatred of Delini and let the blinding rage take over her mind.

The revenge obsessed girl raised her hand, summoning the Shadows and sending them forth in the world. They were her distraction. They would bring out Delini; her need to be in the spotlight, supposedly helping people, would not allow her to remain hidden, especially when only she had the means to truly kill the Heartless.

As Laine walked around the now scene of carnage, she spotted a flash of mahogany on the periphery, fighting off a few of the Shadows. Her face contorted to a mask of rage as she identified the object of her vengeance.

"Delini!" She roared as she summoned her dark sword and lunged towards her goal.

00oo00oo00

Sebastian had landed in a trash pile in an alley that conveniently had contained a rather bouncy mattress. He had been wandering around town, looking for Delini and Atar, walking in the general direction the Gummi ship had been headed, when he started hearing screaming coming from what seemed to be the marketplace.

Like most human beings, and unlike most other living creatures, he started sprinting towards the source of the screaming.

People ran past him, screaming, and Sebastian had to struggle to get through the crowds of people who were running away. He kept getting squished in between people, and had to shove his way through several times before he was actually in the marketplace. When he saw what was happening he froze in the archway, staring.

Heartless were attacking people at random, but the loudest screaming was coming from a girl who was cornered by at least three or four Shadows. Sebastian didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew that he needed to help, so he ran for the girl.

There was a familiar sound and suddenly a weight appeared in Sebastian's hands. He brought his hands together on the handle, already knowing what was in his hands and focused on saving the girl.

00oo00oo00

Delini turned her head at the sound of her name as she shouted for every civilian in the area to run for cover. Who she saw made her freeze in place.

"Laine," Delini whispered under her breath, as she came back to the world noticing Laine was heading straight toward her with a sword in her hands. She quickly brought her keyblade up to defend herself from the oncoming blow. "Laine, you're alive!" she exclaimed as caught Laine's blade in a lock with her own.

"Yeah I am, no thanks to you!" Laine screamed and jumped back from the lock. She lunged forward again moving to strike at Delini's side.

Delini back stepped out of harm's way staring openly at the girl she considered like a sister. "What are you doing?" She screamed as she blocked another blow, this time from above, with her keyblade.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Laine growled jumping back and then moving to attack Delini's left-side. Delini blocked, but Laine expected this and whirled around clockwise to strike at her now open right-side. Delini shouted out in pain, but gritted her teeth and remained standing.

"Like you're trying to kill me! Laine I'm sorry!" Delini pleaded as she jumped back, just barely missing getting her head chopped off and wincing and grabbing her side at her landing as she jarred the injury she had just received. The blow must have caused some internal bleeding. She needed to get Laine back to her senses before she passed out.

"You left me behind to die with our home world! Sorry isn't gonna cut it this time!" She roared and leapt at Delini again, aiming for left arm. She blocked, but only being able to use one hand the blow went through, bruising her left shoulder. Delini cried out and dropped her arm.

Laine smirked and struck again and again, with Delini blocking each time, but only just.

00oo00oo00

The girl had been defending herself somehow, until three of the Shadows had all jumped her at once. She had been managing to the keep them at bay by kicking at them, but her screaming intensified when two of them grabbed her legs.

Sebastian let out a shout as he swung a keyblade forward at the two Shadows holding the girl's legs. On the backswing he got the third Shadow that was going for the girl's heart. As they vanished he and the girl watched the captured hearts be released and float up to the sky until they disappeared.

"Are you alright?" Sebastian asked, panting as he looked back down at the girl, offering her a hand to help her up.

"Yeah, I am now," she said gaining a star struck look in her eye as she clung onto Sebastian's hand after he helped her to her feet. "My name's Boann, could I have the name of the boy who saved me?" she asked, trying and failing to be coy. Boann looked younger than Sebastian, probably at that stage where boys stopped being gross, but not quite old enough to attract their attention.

"It's Sebastian," he replied, looking at her nervously as he tried to pull his hand out of her grip.

"I hate to ruin this moment of love at first sight, but I think we have a bigger problem on our hands!" A voice came from behind Sebastian, who thanked whatever was watching over him that Boann finally let go. He turned to see Atar, who had taken care of the remaining Shadows.

"Atar," Shocked to see him, but ever protective of his family the next words out of his mouth, "Where's Delini?"

"I don't know, last I saw her she was looking for you. I found the Gummi ship and was on my way to tell her, but right now let's focus on the giant heartless trying to steal our hearts, shall we?" he said jerking his head to indicate the monster rapidly approaching them.

The monster was indeed large, and strange. It looked like bits of armor, gauntlets, chest piece, boots and a helmet, floating together to make the shape of a body with the Heartless emblem on the center piece. It attacked them first, sending both of its gauntlets rocketing towards them. Atar leaped out of the way at the right moment, Sebastian getting a grazed foot as he jumped over his.

They both readied their keyblades and charged at the armor, Atar leaping for the helmet and Sebastian rushing the chest piece. Both were blocked and sent flying by a gauntlet and boot respectively. They hit the far wall and Boann cried out in horror, rushing over, bending down and scooping up a staff on the way.

"Heal!" She cried, holding the staff up, the small, yellow dragon that made up the staff's head, opened its mouth and soft green light spilled out. The light formed into four-leaf clovers that fell upon Atar and Sebastian. They stirred and sat up.

"I think I know what this thing is," Sebastian, said panting as he stood up. "My dad talked about the enemies he faced on his journeys, this thing looks exactly like how my dad described one of his first major enemies."

"Did he happen to tell you how to defeat it by any chance?" Atar, also panting, asked as the armor set both its hands into a whirlwind around its body.

"Yeah, we have to destroy the limbs first, and then go for the helmet."

"Alright, you go for the feet and I'll go for the hands!" Atar shouted nodding in Sebastian's direction. The armor had reached them now and they both leaped out of the way in different directions; Sebastian grabbed Boann as he jumped.

"Boann!"

"Yes," she squeaked and jumped, slightly embarrassed and a little shocked at what had just happened.

"Do you know any attack spells, or spells that'll defend us?" Sebastian demanded.

"I know the second level of the three basic attack spells and Aero, that one can buffer attacks for a short while."

"Good, cast that now, and once Atar and I have taken care of the hands and feet I want you to use the second level lightning spell on the chest piece, alright?"

"Okay," she thrust her staff into the air again and cried, "Wind!" A whirling shield of wind surrounded all three of them.

Atar and Sebastian charged the armor again, worrying less about defending themselves with the spell surrounding them. Sebastian still bobbed and weaved out of the way of the gauntlets as he made his way to the boots striking at one of them continuously until it crumbled.

"One down!" he cried to the other two.

Atar had a slightly more difficult target but finished off the first hand with a jumping slash as it moved to attack Boann as she cast Aero again to replenish their shields. "That's two!" He made for the other hand right away, and as he swung in an upwards slash, his keyblade started to glow with a fiery light and the gauntlet disintegrated upon impact. "Three down!"

"And one" Sebastian slashed at the boot, "to," slash, "GO!" one final downward strike. The boot crumbled.

"Thundara!" Boann cried pointing the dragon's head directly at the chest piece that was preparing to fire a blast at Sebastian. Lightning leapt out of the dragon's mouth when it opened this time, headed directly for the armor.

At the same time Atar leapt into the air raising his blade above his head, eyes glowing along with his sword. He roared and swung down. The simultaneous strike of his sword and Boann's spell destroyed the armor.

00oo00oo00

Delini winced every time she felt Laine's blade connect with her own, there was no doubt which of the two of them was stronger, and it was becoming painfully clear that Laine truly hated her now. She couldn't blame her for it though, Delini blamed herself for what happened.

"You're right. I did leave you behind." She whispered loud enough for Laine to hear.

She used the last of her strength and jumped back out of the way of Laine's last attempt, and lowered her head and arm, dismissing her keyblade.

00oo00oo00

The three of them looked at each other in relief and Atar and Sebastian put away their keyblades as Boann cast Cure on them both, releasing the Aero.

Suddenly a scream pierced the air for a brief moment and was cut short. "That sounded like Delini!" Sebastian shouted as he, followed by Atar, sprinted towards the direction of the scream, with Boann tagging along behind.

Atar stopped halfway to through the archway into the next area as he saw who was attacking Delini, blocking Boann as well. Sebastian had described Laine to him during the few hours on the Gummi ship. He hadn't asked for it, Sebastian had just started talking and he had listened. Atar was thankful for it now.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed in that irritating fashion only girls under the age of fifteen could.

"We have to get to the ship. We'll be of more use that way. Besides, this is something between the three of them." He turned, grabbing Boann's hand as he went, and sprinted in the other direction.

00oo00oo00

Laine stood over Delini, preparing to strike the final blow, raising her dark blade.

"LAINE, STOP IT!" she halted, turning in wonder at the voice.

"Sebastian!" She cried in joy and ran to the boy, going to hug him. He stepped out of the way.

"Laine, what were you about to do to Delini?" he questioned her.

"I was going to get rid of her." She stated so matter-of-factly that Sebastian was taken aback. "She's a keyblade bearer, I have to, and she left me behind on the island, she admitted it herself, too. Why don't you join me Sebastian?" She asked excitedly. "The group I'm working with now is dedicated to ridding the multiverse of the evil and oppressive keyblade bearers!" She held out her hand to him.

Sebastian shook his head, letting his bright orange bangs fall over his eyes to cover the tears. He raised his arm and summoned his keyblade.

"Oh," Laine looked down too, "that's how it is then." She briskly turned around and marched towards Delini. The silver- haired warrior raised he blade again. "I'll let you go this time, Sebastian because I know you didn't mean to leave me behind, I can't say for sure if we meet again, but now I must get rid of this betrayer!" She shouted the last word as she brought her sword down on Delini's prone form.

But the blade halted just as it was about to hit Delini's neck. Laine's arm was in the grip of a hooded figure.

"Why are you stopping me, you said I could have my revenge?" Laine screeched angrily as she tried to wrench her arm out of the leader's grasp. Upon failing to do that she tried to force the sword down far enough to puncture Delini's skin, which she also couldn't manage to do.

"There's been a change in plans. Some information has recently come to light, we must return to the ship immediately." He stated calmly, but in such a way that all but screamed '_and don't you even think of defying me!_' He dragged Laine back through the dark portal he had used, just as the Gummi ship flew in overhead. As the ship landed Boann opened the hatch, and Sebastian gently picked up Delini.

"Sebastian, get her into the medical bay now!" Boann shouted over the roar of the engine, "She needs immediate attention!" Sebastian didn't hesitate and ran as quickly as he dared with his injured sister in his arms.

Once inside he laid her down and left Boann to tend to her while he went to the cockpit to assist Atar in flying the Gummi out of the world.

"I think there's some internal bleeding and a possible concussion!" Boann cried down the short hallway. "I need a stable environment to cast the spell to heal her so you guys need to hurry up and get us out of here!"

00oo00oo00

Delini groaned as she returned, unexpectedly, to consciousness. Her head was pounding and she could hear muffled cries of thanks. She opened her eyes and pushed herself up with one hand, the other holding her aching head.

There was a cry of "SIS!" and Delini's world was thrown backwards as she was crushed with love from her brother.

"Sebastian, you're alright, thank goodness!" She hugged him back as best she could with her arms pinned to her sides.

"Let her breathe, silly," came a slightly high-pitched voice that Delini didn't recognize, but her lungs were grateful to for the resupply of oxygen as Sebastian let go and stepped back with a quiet "Sorry, Delini."

"Thanks, Sebastian, you saved me." She smiled, and Atar, who had been standing quietly in the doorway the whole time, had to look away for fear of those feelings that reminded him that he was a teenage boy and she was an attractive teenage girl.

"Well, Boann was the one who healed you," he moved his arm to indicate Boann, the small blonde, curly haired girl who had stopped Sebastian from knocking her out again. She nodded in acknowledgment and said a 'thank you' as the girl beamed with pride. "And Atar was the one who brought the Gummi to us and got us out of the whole sticky situation." He looked to Atar, who had turned back to look at them at the mention of his name.

"Really, you came back for us?" she asked, somewhat incredulous.

"What else would I do?"

"You said before that you would leave if you had the chance, and I wouldn't have blamed you. I mean I haven't been the most gracious leader, if you can even call me that after what happened today." She looked down at her lap. Atar pushed himself off the door frame and walked over to her bedside.

"No, you did fine." His expression softened slightly, no longer frowning, but he couldn't bring himself to smile at her just yet.

"Thank you, Atar." She beamed at him, much more willing to show her emotions openly. She realized that while very rough around the edges, Atar wasn't a bad person after all.

* * *

><p>AN: I want thank KHLegacy and Thaumaturgic Adversary for their reviews and constructive critiscism.

Your question about how they learned to build the Gummi ship was hopefully answered in this chapter, and the fact that it crashed and took off when it wasn't supposed to in the previous chapters shows they didn't really know how to pilot it.


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